Tag Archives: beadholden designs

This uses the Crate of Grapes pattern by Beadholden Designs; I chose not to make it purple. I enjoyed working on this; I like the way it looks; for some reason, it reminds me of one of my grandmothers (and not the one I would have expected). It was easy to work being a repeat pattern where everything is in groups of three. After a while, I didn’t even use the chart. I do have to say that I find her word charts a little hard to read; she uses full names of beads instead of just using letters or symbols. Personally, I find word charts easiest to deal with when they are A, B, C, etc. I really like her designs; I’ve worked one and have one more that I’ve started. It’s a loom pattern, and I had issues with the warp.

I did a ring and toggle clasp from Melissa van Dijk’s site; I found it easier going that I did the last time I used it.

I’m now working on something from a magazine that uses right-angle weave; all I’ve done so far is peyote. It’s been interesting; I’ve taken it apart twice so far: once for getting lost in the pattern and once for a bad bead. I am going to try again.

I worked on seven things this month: one needlepoint, one beading, and five cross-stitch. Either my picture-taking abilities are gone or the last Android update messed with my phone camera, so my pictures are not great this month.

I only have five projects that I worked on in 2017 that I didn’t finish: three beading (one waiting for beads, one going back to eventually, one not sure), one blackwork (abandoned for now), one cross-stitch (currently working on), and one needlepoint (currently working on).

The needlepoint project I’m currently working on is Little Blue Book Bag from Freda’s Fancy Stitching; I am enjoying working on this.

The cross-stitch project I’m currently working on is 99 by Ink Circles; I was hoping to get halfway through, but didn’t quite make it. I made it through 46 bottles out of 99.

The beading projects I worked on were Vintage by Tauriel on Etsy (not pictured because I can’t find it), Chinese Dragon from Josie Fabre, and a modified version of Boxed In from Beadholden Designs. I made it about 3/4″ on Vintage and realized I’d made a mistake that would bother me and that I needed to treat the beads with Krylon because the finish on some was already rubbing off. I ran out of silver beads for Chinese Dragon; I have some in the mail, but it’s too cold to treat them outside and I don’t want to do that inside so I’m not sure when I’ll get back to it. Boxed In was the first attempt I’ve made at loom beading; I made it farther than is pictured (and am too lazy to take a picture). My loom is short, so I had to take it off before I continued and discovered I hadn’t warped it correctly. I might experiment with the loom to see what method of warping works for me before trying it again; I may try to do it with square stitch.

This is Mahjong by Seba Designs. I got very frustrated with this so I put it aside for now; I had a hard time picking thread for it and I kept on making mistakes. I love the design, so I will probably go back to it at some point.

I was more productive in 2017 than I thought I was; I’ve mostly been working on larger things lately. I finished eleven things: six cross-stitch (two cards, three planets, and only one bookmark (in half cross-stitch)) and five beading (all bracelets).

The two things for cards were both part of Misty Hill Studio’s Mid-Century Modern Christmas collection (Ornaments and Aluminum Tree). I was happy I actually managed to finish cards this year. I started larger things for cards in previous years and never finished them; I have two in progress around somewhere.

I did three planets from SpaceNavid on Etsy. I’ve really enjoyed working on these; they are small and work up fairly quickly. I have the pattern for Saturn, which is a bit larger due to the rings, but will probably do Venus next.

I only did one bookmark, which kind of surprised me; I often do them as breaks from larger things, but I guess later in the year, the beading took that over. It is the Interlaced Heron bookmark from Celtic Needlepoint by Alice Starmore; I worked it in half cross-stitch on 22-count fabric because I had some and didn’t feel like tracking down 22-count mesh canvas.

I got started with peyote stitch beading, thanks to Josie Fabre’s book Fast Peyote Stitch Jewelry that I picked up to try. I’ve always been fascinated by bead weaving and have really enjoyed it. In order, three of these are from that book (Deco Fans, Stained Glass, and Cool Waves), one is the Art Deco 4 bracelet from SmartArtsSupply on Etsy, and the last one is different Stained Glass by Beadholden Designs. I need to work on figuring out the proper length for my wrists; a couple of these are a little long.

This month I worked some on 99 by Ink Circles; I worked on 10 bottles (8 full, two partial):

This is a modified version of Boxed In by Beadholden Designs. My first attempt at beading on a loom did not go very well; I pulled out the rows I had done and started over. I enjoyed it much more and hopefully did better at getting the thread in the right place this time.